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An exploration into Judgement, the Ten of Cups, Queen of Swords, and Two of Pentacles for November 2024.
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Judgment heralds a month of revelation, reckoning, and a final stop before we wrap up our exploration of the Strength card in 2024. While it’s undeniably intense, this card is bolstered by a loving and supportive environment shown in the Ten of Cups. How can we let our relationships and pursuit of meaning bolster us as we approach a momentous change? Our theme card for the previous month, the Queen of Swords, occupies the “challenge” position, urging us to move away from the strategies that worked so well recently. We’ve integrated them successfully and now is a time to step into the jovial shoes of the Two of Pentacles. Our opportunities lie in a lighthearted approach, small tweaks to our routines that let in some fun and experimentation, as well as a vision towards a freer, more expansive future.
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Listen in for October’s monthly forecast where the Queen of Wands invites us to take a seat, integrate the lessons we learned from the Knight of Swords last month, and envision a new future. The King of Wands brings both tension and inspiration as the call to do more, produce more, and be more alluring threatens to take us away from our unique perspective and personal healing. We may want to gracefully exit this challenging scenario, but our actual challenge card, the Eight of Cups, instructs us to stay with difficulty and turn away from the distractions of amorphous “better things.” Finally, our opportunity is the beautiful, luminescent card: The Star. Healing can be found in staying with ourselves, learning from the tensions that arise, and committing to our practices of mindful presence, reciprocity, and gentleness. Press play for the full reading and don’t forget to share your takes, insights, and questions in the comments below!
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Strength is back! This month we have our hand’s on the lion’s head, so to speak, as we grapple with a central personal challenge. This is the kind of challenge that, if we approach it bravely, can propel us to the next level. I have a feeling that September will be a month we’ll look back on as a when we really stepped forward and into a deeper relationship with ourselves. Our environment is shown in Justice, a card that instructs us to take our values seriously while remaining open and flexible. Our challenge, the Queen of Pentacles, shows a pull towards playing it safe and getting lost in the details of routine, daily life, the domestic sphere, or the material. Yet our opportunity lies in the Knight of Swords: rushing towards challenge, asserting our ideas, sharing our thoughts, and engaging with the world. Press play for the whole forecast and don’t forget to share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Once again, I’m sharing this with everyone, 1) because it’s fun and I’ve never been good at paywalls, and 2) because our entire reading for August was Major Arcana cards. How are you? Still alive? Reeling from profundity? or just plain tired? Let’s talk about it!
Of course, you can press play above (or in your podcast platform of choice) to hear my in-depth thoughts on the cards as they unfolded over the month, but you can also scroll down for some more lighthearted reflections. And get a look at the cards for September.
Speaking of September, I’m having a visceral experience of autumn approaching. Maybe it’s years of internalized back-to-school energy, but this time always seems ripe for preparation, reinvention, and some generalized nervousness. I’m watching the light change here in North Carolina and seeing the first leaves grow tired and change color around the edges. I’m also thinking about how this time marks a new year in some traditions which has always felt instinctively right to me. How have you been experiencing fall and its many transitions?
Oddly and not surprisingly given our cards, I’ve felt like I’ve been in the busy fall season already. August was a blur of work, adventures, and guests. I felt energized and called to do a whole bunch of home projects and yardwork which prompted some spontaneous magic, see below, and left me feeling recentered and reconnected with my home.
So much was happening, in fact, that I didn’t read or watch as much as usual. I did the classic “check out too many intense psychology and non-fiction books from the library” move that leaves me with a stack on my bedside table that I’m too exhausted to read properly. (Me treating my reading like The Hierophant when I really want a steamy beach read a la the Queen of Wands?)
I did honor my need for stupidity by going to see Twisters in the theaters. While an unhinged trailer for a Christmas action movie starring The Rock, Chris Evans, and a horrific muscular CGI polar bear was more jaw-dropping than the movie itself, I thoroughly enjoyed being swept away by frenetic action sequences and oddly chaste romance. In tarot speak, this was absolutely a Seven of Wands meets The Fool scenario.
And in the tarot world, I found myself moving away from personal readings and just letting this massive, honking monthly forecast take center stage. I did, however, keep pulling Strength as a daily draw. I guess some things require emphasis, but at this point I think I’ve gotten the message!
But, to go deeper as we wrap up this recap, having Strength as our opportunity card this past month was such a robust invitation to look at how we’ve been preparing for this moment of transition. Things are about to get more specific in September (which may be a welcome change after our existential deep-dive tour of the major arcana!) and now is a good time to ask ourselves: What is the major issue I’m working on this year?
As usual, please share any insights, experiences, questions, or comments below. I adore hearing from you all and this community has some incredible gems of wisdom! Don’t forget to scroll down for our reflection prompts and our cards for September (you’ll never guess what our first card is…).
Reflection Prompts for August 2024
The Fool
* Where did you take risks, a leap of faith, or commit to stepping into something new this month?
* How did you honor your true nature, wishes, and instincts/intuition?
* What did you learn about who you truly are and how you can begin again?
The Devil
* What did taking these chances bring up for you?
* Where did you notice fear, self-sabotage, and harmful thinking in your life?
* What patterns felt stale, limiting, and old? How did you commit to shedding them?
The Sun
* Where did you notice yourself pretending to be farther along your path, fine, or fully healed?
* What did you learn about discerning between important self-growth and keeping up apperances?
* How did you develop self-trust this month?
Strength
* When, where, and how did you show up for yourself?
* What did it feel like to honestly observe and accept difficult parts of yourself, the world, your experiences?
* What do you know now about your next steps working with these issues?
…and, finally, the cards for September!
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Podcast Episode Show Notes: Featuring Quinn Diacon-Furtado
Episode Title: Exploring Gender, Magic, and Memory with Quinn Diacon-Furtado
Episode Description:
In this episode, we are thrilled to host Quinn Diacon-Furtado, a multifaceted writer and creator who delves into the intricate realms of gender, magic, intuition, and memory across various genres. Quinn's unique perspective and creative journey offer a rich tapestry of insights and inspirations.
Guest Bio:
Quinn Diacon-Furtado is a writer and creator who explores gender, magic, intuition, and memory across multiple genres. They are the author of the young adult thriller, The Lilies, published by HarperTeen. Their newsletter, The Slow Read, delves into current book recommendations and cultural reading trends through the lens of Quinn's personal experience with reading (dis)ability. A 2022 Lambda Literary Fellow, and former middle school and high school teacher, Quinn holds an MFA in Creative Writing for Children from Hollins University.
Key Topics:
- The Lilies: Dive into Quinn's young adult thriller published by HarperTeen. Explore the themes, characters, and inspiration behind this captivating novel, which tells the story of four students at an elite private school who find themselves trapped in a time loop reliving their worst memories and greatest regrets. Together, they must grapple with the truths of their pasts in order to find a way out of the loop, before the fabric of time can fully disintegrate. This thriller explores queerness, generational patterns, and how secrecy can rot institutions (and the people who uphold them) from the inside out.
- Tarot and the Creative Process: Learn how Quinn uses tarot to inspire and guide their writing.
- Using Your Practice to Inspire Action: Hear Quinn's thoughts on tarot, community, and bringing your spiritual practice into the real world.
- The Future of Tarot & 'Spiritual Technology': Listen in as Quinn discusses their thoughts on where tarot is headed and the intersection of spirituality and social media.
- Personal Practice and Ancestor Work: Learn about Quinn's persona practice, favorite resources, and frequent tarot card visitors.
Mentioned in this Episode:
Rust Belt Arcana Tarot
Raymond Buckland Romani Tarot
Using Tarot in the Writing Process: Leveraging Tarot Readings as a Creative Catalyst
The In-Betweens: The Spiritualists, Mediums, and Legends of Camp Etna by Mira Ptacin
Clearing Spaces: Inspirational Techniques to Heal Your Home by Khi Armand
The Morgan Greer Tarot
Connect with Quinn Diacon-Furtado:
Website: thisisquinnswebsite.com
Newsletter: theslowread.substack.com
Instagram: @ya_quinn_ya
Join the Conversation:
Have questions or thoughts about today's episode? Share them in the comments of the substack post for this episode or message directly at [email protected]. Don't forget to share and rate and review the podcast on your favorite platform!
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Can you believe it?! For the first time in “Monthly Forecast History” we have a reading of four Major Arcana Cards! That’s right: 100% archetypal power and intensity. Buckle up, because in August we’ll be launching into a Fool’s Journey, battling with The Devil, and resisting the individualist joy of The Sun in pursuit of the meaningful process of (building) Strength. Listen in for the whole forecast including me absolutely losing my mind while turning over these cards.
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Hello everyone and welcome to the monthly review for July! I’m sending this out to all subscribers since some life chaos prevented me from getting the Weekly Forecast out to you all this week. I’m loathe to skip anything Incandescent Tarot-related, so I hope this makes up for the absence and maybe gives an enticing peek behind the curtain/look at the magical realm of a paid subscription.
So how was July for you all?
I was looking back at my camera roll and shocked to see how much had happened. I took a trip to visit family up north and was able to take a small detour alone to visit my hometown. I hadn’t been back in almost nine years and it was euphoric and eerie to drive along the backroads of Western Massachusetts and know my way exactly.
We had an interesting group of cards this month - all minor arcana - and the month had a similar feeling of profound everyday-ness. Working through the same issues, going back to the work, driving along the backroads again, and again, and again. What did you learn from all the returning, revisiting, and repetition?
I’m writing this with the knowledge of our cards for the next month and wow. There’s clearly a lot to uncover in this month that can help steer us in the weeks ahead. Be sure to scroll down for reflection prompts to gather your thoughts and insights, and of course the cards for August. (I am shook!)
Before then, a few highlights:
In the tarot-verse: I did a bunch of personal readings this month, including one with a fun structure I’m excited to share. (Anyone else out there into DIY-spreads?) The first card I drew?? Strength! I’m also so excited that a second edition Uusi Design Studio’s Eros Tarot (joyfully NSFW) is on pre-order. What decks have you been enjoying? Always looking for recommendations to diversify my heavily-RWS tarot portfolio.
Reading, watching, listening: Vacation time means reading time and aah and I am missing the feeling of being able to devour a book in two days! I finally read Wandering Stars, Tommy Orange’s follow-up to the wonderful There There (very Five of Cups, Ten of Pentacles, and The Moon with its themes of lineage, grief, and transformation) and Birnam Wood, which I found annoying at first and then absolutely engrossing. It probably didn’t help that many of the characters gave me flashbacks to myself, age twenty, ranting about Noam Chomsky and “decentralized nodes of modality,” but what can you do?
I had the delightful experience of sitting by myself at a movie theater watching a film set in my hometown. Janet Planet follows a single mother and her daughter as they navigate the rhythms of a lazy summer in Western Massachusetts. Set in the 90s, it was like a flashback to my childhood; think Six of Cups nostalgia mixed with zany alternative Four of Wands shenanigans. (This movie made me want to host my own surreal puppet show in my back yard.)
I also got sucked in to the Netflix documentary series about the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, America’s Sweethearts. (Anne Helen Petersen has a characteristically insightful take on it on her substack.) Come for the performative femininity, stay for the deeply relatable characters!
Ace of the Month: This itty bitty baby snapping turtle!
How was your June? I’d love to hear in the comments below! And don’t forget to scroll down for prompts and that insane reading for August.
Reflection Prompts for June
Eight of Pentacles
* What work, projects, or routines naturally drew your focus this month?
* How were you able to remain centered and on task?
* What have you learned about yourself through committing to work?
Eight of Swords
* What self-limiting beliefs, mental blocks, and insecurities were you able to identify this month?
* How did you successfully confront them?
* What do you now know about your true desires, thoughts, and direction?
Eight of Cups
* When did you feel the need to retreat, chase something new, or find fault with the support and resources you have?
* How did it feel to come back home to yourself?
* What part of your desires are you inviting back into your life?
Nine of Cups
* What did you learn about your emotional and spiritual resources?
* How did it feel to uplift and appreciate the love and beauty in your life?
* Did you feel discomfort? How did you soothe it?
and, finally, a look at our next reading…
Cards for August 2024
(I almost didn’t post these because I wanted it to be a surprise in the live reading, but you’ll just get to listen to me huff and puff with incredulity on the recording - I can’t get over this array!!)
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We’re back down to earth this month, with a natural focus on work, dedication, and follow-through shown in our theme card, the Eight of Pentacles. The first of three consecutive eights, this card positions us as the makers and doers in our own life story. It’s a welcome change from all the Major Arcana energy that’s been animating our past readings, yet three eights is no small matter and perhaps even a shoutout to our card of the year, number eight in the Major Arcana, Strength. We have some lingering swords-issues in the world around us as the Eight of Swords shows us messily contending with our wishes, desires, opinions, and even self-confidence. Yet our opportunity card, the Nine of Cups, invites us to consider how we might have everything we need and to use our emotional resources to ground ourselves instead of, as our challenge card the Eight of Cups suggests, running to the hills in pursuit of newness or elusive feelings and goals.
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I couldn’t keep us from our reading this week, dear readers! Press play above for the full rundown - I can’t express enough how excited I am to see The Magician! I’ll be back with regular programming next week.
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In June’s reading we have another court card leading the way. The Queen of Swords encourages us to embrace our power to organize and communicate our thoughts, advocate for ourselves and others, and strive towards a more meaningful and, you guessed it, just world. Yes, Justice is in the air the month as our environment card. We’ll be grappling with how to bring this lofty ideal into our flawed and complicated world, both in our everyday life and our larger communities. While we can accomplish a lot in this space, it’s calling on us to show up mindfully and with directed intention. Yet part of us wants to sneak off and get distracted in daydreaming, fantasy, and frivolous side quests. I’m talking about the Knight of Cups here, our challenge card. The Two of Cups, however, offers us an opportunity to engage with lofty principles in our everyday life and gain some balance by having fun in small ways while inviting in bigger changes. Listen in for the full reading and be sure to leave your comments below.
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This month’s reading has a fresh energy, led by the formidable and fiery King of Wands. In May we'll be stepping into our power and ambition, showing up, and making things happen. Temperance invites us to balance this output with steady, dedicated care for both ourselves and our communities while Judgment gives us a somewhat comical alarm for when we’re getting off-course. Why pass judgment when we can be chill, focusing on tending to our cups? These cards remind us that life is not a zero-sum game and that change does not lead to a static outcome. Not only this, but the Two of Cups shows us how our new relationships, passions, and artistic or spiritual pursuits are a source of both pleasure and promising growth.
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We’re back at long last with another installment of “Ask a Tarot Reader"! Listen in as I dive into two excellent listener-submitted questions. The first touches on the tens of the minor arcana:
“Why do you think the 10’s are so different from each other (or not)? The 10’s of pentacles and cups are so abundant, joyful, and triumphant, while the 10’s of wands and swords are overwhelming, burdensome, and a real bummer. I know there’s a range of what they can represent, but I’m curious about how you’d explain the apparent contrast.”
and the second brings us to the world of the Major Arcana:
“How does the Star card relate to the star in the Hermit’s lamp?”
Submit your own question .::. https://www.incandescenttarot.com/askatarotreader
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What a fascinating group of cards for April! This month is animated by the call to move towards peace and fulfillment via the Six of Swords, and it seems as if our environment card, the Ten of Cups, isn’t just giving us a green light, it’s giving us a full-on, resplendent rainbow. This is a long and poignant journey, however, and we’ve been preparing for it for some time. The World from last month gave us a peek at the landscape we’ll be traversing and now our job is to wade into it and stay the course, trusting in our emotions, intuition, and deeper wisdom. Our challenge will be to resist the urge to turn this moment into one of practicality and caution like the Knight of Pentacles. This is not a month to reason away our joy, wishes, or values. Luckily, the Knight of Swords is rising to the challenge and shows us using or words, wit, and conviction for good; choosing what matters to us, trusting in the meaning we make of our lives, and defending our dedication to connection, sweetness, and community.
Listen in for the full forecast, including an enthusiastic deep-dive into these two knights, rapturous explorations of the swords suit done right, and lots of impassioned musings on spring as a season for new beginnings.
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This month we shift from the analytic, sharp swords and into the feeling world of the cups. The Two of Cups sees us reaching out and being received by others. What insights can we gift to those close to us? What can be revealed to us in turn? The Hierophant suggests that there’s profound wisdom to explore in this space and the energy to make headway in areas of our life that give us a sense of meaning and purpose. Our challenge card, the Two of Wands, shows a desire to turn away from all this and keep things light, but in doing so we’d just be hiding in our actualization, healing, and self-expression as shown in our opportunity card: The World.
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February’s reading features a bevy of swords cards. We’re poised to step into the shoes (and throne) of the discerning and stoic King of Swords while struggling against “Knight of Swords impulses” in ourselves and others to rush to conclusions, have the first and last word, and figure it all out. Yet underneath it all, we’re undergoing a slow and steady journey away from ideas and expectations we’ve outgrown. The Six of Swords shows a deliberate choice to take responsibility for ourselves and remain open to input from the world around us. Think sailing across the river vs. sweating to build a whole bridge. All this complexity, if we choose to engage with it, steers us towards the fertile shore of The Star where wisdom and peace await. Sounds alluring! And well worth the pointedness of the rest of our reading.
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Listen in as we explore the cards for the first month of 2024! But first, a look at our transition from a Chariot Year (2023) to a year animated by Strength (2024). It’s been a wild ride, and this jump seems both exciting and grounding. The year starts out with a serious and zesty batch of cards. January’s theme is The Hermit, where we travel inward to uncover animating truths that give our lives meaning. The environment is supportive of this quest along with many others touching on themes of romance, connection, and spiritual meaning. The Knight of Cups shows our enthusiasm and more than a little potential to be “extra.” We’ll be challenged to resist the assumption that we have to go it alone like the Eight of Cups, yet the gravitational pull of The Lovers reminds us that life is sweet and exciting when we find people who support, understand, and expand what really matters to us.
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Listen in to the latest edition of “Ask a Tarot Reader,” a segment where we explore two listener-submitted questions: one about how to read tarot and the other a personal question or issue to invesitagate with a two-card tarot reading. This month, we’re starting with a reading about how to survive/endure/thrive in the challenging holiday season, and we finish with a perennial concern: reversed card. To read with them or not?
To submit a question // Click here
More on Reversals // Click here
A few quick podcast annoucements:
* I will no longer be sending out emails for each new episode. This is a spam-free space! To stay up to date, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts (and while you’re at it, do leave a rating and review ;)
* In case you missed it, transcripts are available for all episodes. Simply click the transcript bar below the audio player to read the episode in its full glory. (Caveat: the transcript is AI-generated and sometimes I miss ridiculous mistranslations. I hope they’re entertaining!)
Our Cards from the Mini-Reading:
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December is here! In this last forecast for 2023, we’re visited by the introspective, questing Hermit who invites us to go inward to find authentic, actionable, and realistic ways to navigate tradition, structure, and lineage represented by The Hierophant (and the entire holiday season). We may find ourselves tempted to overindulge and distract ourselves with celebration and socialization through the Three of Cups; however, healthy expansion can be found in recognizing the meaningful actions we’ve been taking individually and collectively so that we can continue to practice them moving forward. Listen in for the entire reading and be sure to leave a rating and review or share if you found this forecast helpful.
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Welcome to the latest installation of “Ask a Tarot Reader” where we dive into listener-submitted questions about 1) how to read tarot and 2) personal questions for an answer via a two-card tarot reading.
This month, our question about tarot comes from a listener who asks:
“How do you read challenging cards without falling to either 'they are good/bad'? Some cards can be seen as so challenging (from knowledge or past experience), yet you seem to be able to read each time with curiosity and openness, without your intuition being cluttered by challenging experiences with the cards. Would you say that comes with practice with the cards/self-care routines/personality trait? What would be your advice(s)? (I ask because I can sometimes feel 'overwhelmed' by certain cards when I read to myself, and it can take away my initial enthusiasm and intuition.)”
The question for our tarot reading comes from a listener named G, who asks:
“Will I ever feel fulfilled by my professional career again?”
Listen in as we discuss their card: The Eight of Cups and The Tower.
To submit a question // Click Here
This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit incandescenttarot.substack.com/subscribe - Vis mere
